Balanced appetite regulation of Shu-mu acupoint catgut embedding in abdominal obesity: secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial

Objective: To explore the effect of Shu-mu acupoint catgut embedding (ACE) on appetite in abdominal obesity (AO) patients. Methods This is a secondary analysis of a multicenter, double-blind, randomized controlled trial. Which was conducted in China between July 2018 and June 2022. Eighty AO participants who received Shu-mu ACE intervention were divided into moderate appetite (MA) and strong appetite (SA) subgroups, according to the appetite at baseline. While 79 AO participants who received NACE intervention were also divided into MA and SA subgroups. All participants were given a 12-week actual intervention period and a 4-week follow-up. Appetite was assessed at baseline and after 6, 12 and 16 weeks. Results 71 participants who received Shu-mu ACE and 74 participants who received NACE were included in the final analysis. After the Shu-mu ACE, at 16 weeks, the appetite of the SA subgroup decreased to the same level as the MA subgroup ( p  > 0.05). All 36 AO participants’ appetite had decreased in the SA subgroup. While in the MA subgroup, 22 AO participants had a decrease in appetite, 7 increased, 4 had no change, and 2 had appetite data missing. During the NACE intervention and follow-up, the appetite of the SA subgroup was always higher than the MA subgroup ( p  < 0.01). In the SA subgroup, 32 decreased, 4 increased, 5 had no change, and 2 appetite data missing. While in the MA subgroup, 14 decreased, 7 increased, and 10 had no change. Conclusions Catgut embedding at Shu-mu acupoint could regulate the appetite of AO to the normal level, rather than dramatically inhibit the appetite. Trial registration This study was registered in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (registration number: ChiCTR1800016947). 4 July 2018; https://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=28782